The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-28
a LOT OF FAMOUS CRIMINALS.
The Colony of New Caledonia Better
Than the Paris Slums
E,.&., a. y l.. IT..

The Colony of New Caledonia Better
Than the Paris Slums.
From the London Telegraph.
An interesting account of the present
status of the notorious French criminals in
New Caledonia has been furnished by an
official who has just returned from that
penal colony. The most respectable. as
well as the senior, of all the convicts is
Berezovssl, TIL. Pole who fired at the En-
peror Alexander H., during the Paris Exhi-
bltion of 1867. Frequent applications have
been made for the liberation of Berezovski,
but they have all been refused. He is now
III the island of Nou, where he occupies q
| little room apart from all the bad charac-
tiers, and has even small garden for him
self. He roams about the island, which is
one-fourth of the size of Paris, at his own
sweet will, and his conduct has always been
| irreproachable Hereceives large quantity
| of newspapers, books and pamphlets from
different countries by every mail Berez-
| ovski is now old and feeble to an extreme
degree.
| OF different class are GILES and Abadie,
/ the murderers of the Paris grocer Lecercle.
These worthless are employed as street scav-
engers at Nounlea, and their occupation is
looked upon by their companions IN penal
servitudc as n good one, for it is easy, and
NNASN SAA''''Nf'
and various odds and ends. including occa-
slonal aims. Pei who poisoned his servant
at Montreuil, and then burned her remains
III stove, died in the beginning of the
year, as we'll as Moyaux, who murdered his
own daughter. Guichard, who murdered a
bank messenger at Marseilles, is doing well
as a store clerk, and hopes ono day,
If not to go to Australia, at least to
settle down in New Caledonia Vas a
colonist. One of the most comfortable and
thriving of the convicts in Fenayrou, the
chemist of the Boulevard MaleSherbes, who
led the lover of his wife into an ambush at
Chatou, and then murdered him in a most
atrocious manner This criminal has passed
through the various categories until he
arrived among the first-class convicts. He
has share in farm which he and his wife
superintend, and he has under his orders
some of the lower class of criminals. His
life sentence has been committed to one of
twenty years. The doctor who was con-
denned last year for having sent poisoned
game to colleague is giving satisfaction,
and hopes to be able to attain the privileges
accorded to Fenayrou.
On the whole, the educated criminals,
even those who are undergoing sentences
for serious crimes are highly spoken of by
the Governor of Noumea, and the most un-
mitigated rascals are the Paris gamins and
the british peasants or laborers, most of
whom are murderers. Every year certain
number of the SO have to be shot down. Tho
official who uses his revolver against the
convicts is tried as formality by court
martial and acquitted.
The number of conyicts is 10, 900 or more,
and there are in addition 240 female con-
victs who, however, were sent out to Nou-
mea of their own accord from the Maison
Centrale of Paris for the purpose of marry
ing first-class misdemeanantS. These women
are supervised by nuns. There are on the
island 600 warders. The number of first
class convicts amounts to 1000, and some of
them, like F<nayrou, have been allowed to
send for their wives The State furnishes
them with agricultural implements, food,
and even few head of cattle. when they
are permitted to begin farming, and they
generally contrive to do well. Another
class, apart from all the others, is com
posed of skilled tradesmen and me-
chanics, musicians and even actors. These
have savings bank of their own, a kind of
a club, and are almost too prosperous for
convicts. The bandsmen are said to be as
good as many regimental performers, and
they play programmes of select music before
the Governors mansion twice week
besides giving occasional concerts. From
this it will be seen that the life of many
convicts is far better than that which is led
by thousands in the slums of Paris and it is nc
wonder that such being the case, numerous
transgressors against the law of the land,
including those who commit the most ter.
rible crimes, should view with longing and
delight their dispatch to New Caledonia by
the clement mandate of the President of the
Ito